[ instrumental music ] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live and in hd, this abc 7 "news at noon." on your side. thank you for joining us. i am alison starling. deciding the future of d.c. schools, today, the next mayor of the district and a controversial school chancellor are going head to head and they are trying to figure out if they can work together. we go live to nw, dc >> schools chancellor michelle

rhee just showed up here at the wilson building. this is the first time that the two will meet face-to-face to discuss the future. the future of d.c. public schools could be decided today. for the first time since winning the primary, a democrat vincent gray will sit down with michelle rhee. >> i have been very clear on my education stance of what is important to me. some of those things are good at what she attempted to do. some of those are broader. i want to see how she envisions d.c. and sell larger education apparatus. >> the head of schools is going in with backing from the obama administration. u.s. education secretary arne duncan is a fan and michelle rey and would like to see her stay. the presumptive next mayor and chancellor have had a rocky relationship. vincent gray said he would consider hiring back more than the 200 teachers that were fired. >> it pains me to be in a situation where i could surely

be leaving this reform effort that has so much promise. >> concerned about the future of education are d.c. residents who had mixed reactions. >> i think if she is performing well, i don't see any reason to get rid of her. >> i am not quite sure i like the way teachers were terminated. i think she should finish it out but maybe after that, we may need another chancellor. >> both have said in the past that regardless of the outcome, they would like to see education reform remain priority number one in the district. it is unclear how long this meeting will last today. they have cleared their schedules for the afternoon. we are following a developing story on that fire that killed three members of a lorton, virginia family which is still under investigation.

the victims are a 24-year-old, her 5-year-old son, and for three-year old son. in our final moments, she managed to save her other three children by dropping them out of a window. those children ranged in age from 8-2-month-old all survive. juvenile male and the district is now facing murder charges in the death of a catholic university student. he was riding his bicycle last month when he was shot and killed. the juvenile is charged with first-degree felony murder while armed. police are now responding to a prince george's county family outraged after officers shot a family pet. it happened after a call from help on fet avenue in landover. pamela brown has the latest. >> he says there was no reason for a police officer to shoot and kill his beloved four-year

old rottweiler. >> there is no reason. >> prince george's attorney said using lethal force with a dog was justified. >> our officers on our swat team tried to train to use other methods. we try fire extinguisher is but when a situation is very fast and chaotic like it was the other day, the officers have to take whatever action they can to protect themselves and the person they are trying to arrest them up when police tried to address the many as a morning, the dog became a threat. >> the dog reacted on the owner of fighting the police. the dog charged at the officers and the officer fired one shot to protect the officers and at the dock and the dog died. >> barlow has a different story of. he said robbers tried to rob his brother. officers came to the house. >> you would retaliate if

someone harmed our family. >> police arrived shortly after and that is when things got cheated. he says five officers wrestled him to the ground and a female officer shot the dog. witnesses say the officers went too far. >> the dog did not attack anyone. he never approached anyone. even as the officers grabbed him, the dog did not do anything. >> charges include assaulting a police officer. the female police officer remained on full duty. also new this noon, a suspect behind a string of robberies in northern virginia is now in custody. the loudoun county sheriff's department picked up the 29- year-old at his s. byrne home last night they say he is the same man caught on this surveillance tape that they hear cauteryh hearaircuttery.

officers say he is behind similar armed robberies, three of them at other hair salons. he is being held without bond. several passengers were injured involving a metrobus accident at maryland avenue and eighth street in northeast. ems is evaluating several passengers. police tell us all the injuries are minor. they water main break is tying up traffic and nw, dc they are fixing a broken six- inch main. the d.c. water says the eastbound side of t street will stay shut down until 4:00 this afternoon. people in maryland are cleaning up after storms rolled through last was big problems in prince george's county. fire officials believe lightning may have sparked an electrical fire in a town house on ridge road in greenbelt. strong winds knocked down a tree on that same block. no one was hurt in either

incident there was dramatic video of lightning in landover overnight. that is all gone out of our region but today the heat and mugginess is back. here is steve rudin on the first full day of fall which feels like summer. it looks like we are on our way to the lower 90's. it is 82 in fairfax right now. it is warmer out to the west. a few scattered clouds are expected later this afternoon. it will not amount to well whole lot but we could squeeze out a thunderstorm in the mountains later today. for tomorrow, there is the potential for record-breaking heat. we now turn to the race before november. democrats have accused republicans of being a party of no and republicans are setting

the record straight. we are getting our first look. we go to sterling, va. with details. >> everything just wrapped up here at the lumber company about one hour ago. republicans say this plan will create jobs, cut spending, and reform congress while restoring america's trust in the government. more than a dozen republican members of congress met with small business leaders at a small business in sterling to discuss and present to the american people what they would do if they get control of the house. >> if you look at the pledge, it is not intended to be a party platform. it is not intended to cover everything under the sun. it is about listening to the american people and as we listen to them, these are the things they told us. it is about what needs to be done now. >> in their pledge to america, the gop used ideas from their voting program.

outside of the lumber co., tea party members gathered in support them if they can keep the tax cut, that will encourage us. >> we are all for not spending money. we are all for bringing jobs back and having our constitution protected and to abide by it. >> the pledge is similar to the nude gingrich pledged to america promises to extend the tax cuts. it will keep guantanamo bay prison opened and repeal the health care bill, replacing it with republican ideas including limiting malpractice. >> of the land of opportunity has become the land of shrinking prosperity. >> democrats dismissed the idea. nancy pelosi says this pledge will ship jobs overseas, increase the deficit by giving cuts to the wealthy, and take away patients' rights.

republicans say they are confident that this plan will reduce the deficit. they say in the first year alone, they could save $100 billion by reining in spending. six months after the president signed the health care law, sweeping new rules will take effect today. insurance companies can no longer set lifetime caps on medical costs. they are banned from canceling coverage for people who get sick. adult children can now stay on their parents policies until they turn 26 and preventive care will no longer have a copiague> a local family as morning a sailor killed in afghanistan. the 29-year-old was a navy seal and a high-school football player in hyattsville be go for going to the naval academy. he and eight other americans were killed this week in the deadliest helicopter crash in afghanistan in four years. president obama tells world

leaders that the u.s. will present a progress report on the 9-year-old war on afghanistan. >> the united states and our allies are pursuing a strategy to break the taliban's momentum and build the capacity for the afghanistan government and security forces so that a transition to afghan responsibility can begin next july. >> the commander in chief addressed the opening meeting of the u.n. general assembly. he called on the 192-member state to support the israeli- palestinian peace process. this afternoon, mahmoud ahmadinejad will speak. > a virginia woman is said to be executed tonight parish was convicted in 2002 murder for hire scheme that left her husband and stepson dead. she will be the first woman to be executed in virginia in nearly a century. governor bob mcdonnell and the supreme court say they will not intervene. this is the message that

lawmakers are hearing for a second day of hearings on capitol hill. top intelligence officials say extremists are looking for help from people within the u.s. borders. in 3 serious attempted attacks in seven months, last september's failed me york city subway plot and the christmas day square and the times square bombing attempt in may. in the last year-and-a-half, at least 63 americans have been arrested or convicted of terrorism charges. --a new and terror rat terrorizing threat is alive then of the experts say american terrorist plots are harder to detect and the government will expand the multimillion-dollar public awareness campaign this fall if you see something, say something. > the shoulders on i-66 are

open during rush hour and vdot is considering keeping those open during other parts of the day. they are considering new electronic signs that would warn drivers of any backups and a very speed limits depending on the volume are the state has applied for federal grant money to fund these upgrades. a warning for drivers on i- 66 overnight, westbound will be shut down at the dulles connector road for the closures will happen from midnight until 5:00 a.m. tonight through saturday and drivers will be detoured to the dulles connector which is part of work on the dulles metro >> >> coming up, millions of containers of formula are pulled off the shelves. we have a warning for parents. >> he was mine. >> a toddler trapped in a tug- of-war between his father and the only family he has ever known, a family torn apart.

plus, have millions of dollars of drug money been going to waste? a shocking new report is out today. there is no sign of fallen a forecaster in steve rudin will be back.

a warning about the country's most popular infant formula, drug maker abbott laboratories is recalling millions of containers of similac. they say the formula may be contaminated with insect parts. the insect parts could lead to digestive problems. the fda says there is no immediate health risk. this recall does not affect liquid formula. president obama ran into

protesters in an unlikely spot, inside a democratic fund-raiser in new york. >> hey, hold on may 2. >> hecklers held up signs accusing him of not living up to his promise to increase aids funding. supporters tried to drown them out and president obama answer directly, telling them that his administration has increased funding for aids. 3-year-old boy is at the center of an emotional adoption battle. the parents planned to adopt him on the day he was born. they were in an ohio hospital room during his delivery and took him home to indiana. the arrangement was made for the biological mother and days later, the biological father stepped in demanding custody. eventually, the ohio supreme court ruled in favor of the father and the couple cannot understand why. >> we never received a phone call from this guy.

we never received a birthday card. >> they say they will continue to fight to maintain custody of the boy. >> this thursday afternoon, we turn our attention to the weather. it is a strange thing. we are here in fall offical it. if you did not have a calendar, you would never know it. it feels more like the beginning of august and it will remain hot and humid for the next couple of days. outside right now as we look at the horizon, it is quiet and dry and a bit hazy out there. anywhere you go, it will be uncomfortable this afternoon. stay in the shade or stay inside in the air conditioning. our temperatures are heating up quickly. 84 degrees in alexandria. it feels like 86 degrees3 .

if you are looking for relief, delaware is 72 degrees and feels like 77 degrees and temperatures will remain in the upper 70's this afternoon for ocean city. temperatures across the area, 82 degrees in leesburg. yes, it looks like we will add one more day to the tally. this will be day #65 for 2010 in days above 90 degrees. tomorrow, we could be looking at a record-breaking heat, well into the 90's and that would put us at day 66. it would be one more day to tie the record a eighth degree. is in cincinnati and near 90 in raleigh, north carolina. we have a disturbance just to the north and west that could trigger a few isolated storms in the shenandoah valley but we are not expecting anything like we saw yesterday.

the satellite and radar shows it is quiet and dry. the record challenging keep off to the west of us, no record today, the record today is 90 degrees and low 90's is what we expect and the temperature will be 73 degrees tonight and tomorrow it will be near 95. the record is 94 degrees tomorrow. we could tie the record. we will have cooler air on the way for the weekend. >> that is more seasonable. virginia may have more money to pay for transportation projects. governor bob mcdonnell will unveil the findings of a new audit newvdot. he ordered the six months ago and the audit uncovered millions of dollars of unspent funds. this will add $614 million to backlog of maintenance and

construction projects. >> still to come, together they are worth more than some countries. coming up, the new richest people in america. and then, the nation's front lawn looking like a farm field. we will tell you why. later today on oprah, days after her release from an iranian prison, the u.s. hiker gets her first television interview at 4:00.

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bill gates and warren buffett are once again on the top of the list of the country's richest americans. the list says the rich are getting richer. this year's list of 400 is

collectively worth 1.4 trillion dollars. the biggest jump in net worth is for mark zuckerberg, the creator of face book. folks in southwest, d.c. are getting a taste of the farm life. a live wheat field has been set up across from the american indian museum. this is to promote food literacy. anyone can stop by for a free baking demonstration and you can't get bread fresh from the oven. the display will stay up until 7:00 tonight and from 8:00-5:00 tomorrow. a d.c. makeover is approaching the halfway mark. work on mcpherson square park continues. the national park service says the project should be complete by the end of the year. >> let had, steve rudin will be back.

>> a couple of more days of summer-like heat and it will get to where it should be? exactly, temperatures will be end up lorton 90 to us today and mid-90's tomorrow. cool on sunday and sunshine and upper 70's. >> thank you. we thank you were being here with us. we will see you back here in the morning beginning at 4: 30 a.m. we will see you back here in the morning beginning at 4: 30 a.m.